Consumer and Retail Division 2019
I am curious about this division. I haven't seen much about it in any threads on this site post 2013. What is the culture/hours/comp in this division. What are the top groups leading this space currently? How are the exit opps? Also, why is this division barely mentioned on this site compared to many other divisions?(Healthcare, TMT, M&A, LevFIn, etc.)
In terms of the top groups, GS, JPM, BAML, Barclays, Centerview, Jefferies.
How is the culture at these firms?
Also interested if anyone has any insight on this
There is no general overarching "average" in term of culture, hours, comp or exit opps. Those things are all bank specific. Someone else mentioned the top groups and I believe the groups he listed are along the top ones.
Compensation will be based on the bank you're on. Majority of the banks pay the same, 85 base + 30-80% of that as bonus, except for EB's which tend to pay higher bonuses in different incremental amounts. Your group might get slightly higher bonuses if they're having a comparatively better year and more dealflow than other groups but I'm not sure if the difference is meaningful.
Hours are dependent on the bank as well but seems to be on the upper end among coverage groups for many banks (~70 - 100+ when deals are heating up). This seems to be the case even at places with not so great dealflow.
Exit opps again are again group dependent but if you are shooting for PE, most of the megafunds have consumer and retail groups (ie. BainCap, Apax, TPG) as well as a variety of middle market and beyond (ie. Sycamore, L Catterton, TA). Some of these will focus more on specific verticals than others, you will see some that do mostly brands/consumer and others that do more retail oriented things. Many people also can go to Corp Dev or more execution-type roles in industry, meaning the consumer/retail companies that you used to cover when you were at the bank.
Not sure why it doesn't get as much attention in WSO. It certainly is not as technical as Lev Fin or M&A but the industry is very vibrant and if you have any sort of interest in you can get a lot of exposure to really cool companies especially if you are at one of the better groups.
Thanks, this is helpful. Do you have any knowledge/info on exit opps outside of PE?
Hedge funds, venture capital, and all the other traditional finance routes are also fair game but keep in mind that if you start in C&R it'll probably be easier to stay as the "consumer" guy if you end up at one of these places meaning you will probably cover companies in the sector. Which is a great thing if you have an interest in the industry, and to be fair it is hard not to because there are so many cool verticals within it (ie. wines/spirits, new age foods, D2C startups like Warby Parker, Casper, etc.)
Many people are also into doing corporate development, meaning M&A execution, at a consumer and retail company as well as more traditional FP&A roles at F500.
Outside of that, people really do everything from law school to startups to entrepreneurship. It's kind of up to whatever you want as I think you get a quite broad experience that doesn't really pigeonhole you into strictly finance related roles.
Will CR groups tend to further bifurcate coverage areas within a desk? I.e., some analysts specializing in hardline and some in softline etc? Or is it kind of just a generalist coverage?
Not sure about all banks but most of the ones i've seen you don't really get specialized in something until the VP level. Analysts for the most part cover everything that their MD's cover, but you usually do end up focusing a bit more on certain things depending on if you have a good relationship with your staffers and MD's and strong interest towards certain industries. If the group leaders do care about the juniors then you can end up getting more projects in the areas that interest you.
Anybody have insight into other MM consumer groups? I know Jeffereries is solid and Piper seems to be doing well lately, but curious about other banks.
Jefferies consumer team is decent but I wouldn't consider them as strong (or as large) as other groups at the firm. Plus the bulk of them are based out of the Charlotte office, not NY.
Specialization on specific verticals within the consumer space doesn't start really until you hit the VP level or above. Much like the rest of Jefferies, they try to source the bulk of their deals in the sponsor-backed sell-side fee pool.
Harris WIlliams historically had a decent consumer practice
Good call. Anybody know anything about Baird, William Blair, Stifel, Houlihan, or Lincoln consumer groups?
Et vero molestiae non magni aut. Voluptate quam magni quis tenetur aspernatur quae. Quibusdam rerum doloribus molestiae temporibus voluptatum sequi. Quod reiciendis impedit sed. Aperiam totam velit sunt officia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...